Stereotyped
by DoctorImStillWaiting
Summary: When Fang moved to a new high school, he joins a clique known as 'The Flock.' He finds himself enjoying company for once, but can't feel easy around a girl called Max, the spitting image of an old ex- girlfriend. When Fang's upbringing with stereotypes starts to show and the group choose Max to try deal with it, how will she take it? Adopted from: Maximum Leo Grimm
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction. I doubt James Patterson writes fanfictions about his own story**.

Fang POV

"...Fang?"

"Yeah, thats me."

The office grandma pursed her lips."Sorry, just that... it's quite an uncommon name, is it not?"

I stared at her, trying to keep my emotions under control, which I had gotten good at with practice. I look blank and calm on the outside, but on the inside... welcome to Hell.

"It's says on the sheet that it's my preferred name, believe it or not," I smirked.

"Oh..."

A few more awkward seconds passed and she just sat there, red as a tomato. I nearly smiled because she looked like Rudolph's nose, but with wrinkles.

Yes, I know that I'm a sadist but please, give this guy a chance, ok? This was my first high school and after moving from Long Island, this place was relatively small, and I just wasn't comfortable with that. Not to mention I'm the loneliest loner in the world and that wouldn't help make friends. It used to be easier in 1st grade for heaven's sake. You didn't need to go up, people would ask their questions and you would answer them.

"Ooo, what's your name?"

"Where did you come from?"

"Where are you staying?"

"Did you come on the choo choo train or a weeeeeheerrrrrr jet plane?"

Ah, young people. So innocent, so energetic. I mean, look at us teenage boys, tweeting, watching TV and being single and ready to mingle. I wish I could say I was one of those boys who had the nerve to say "hey" to a nice girl, but so far in life, no girls had even looked at me, let alone said hi. Maybe this school would be different.

'Get real,' I told myself.

Granny looked up in surprise. Whoops. Didn't mean to say that out loud.

She shook her head and muttered, "Children these days."

I just sniggered. How nice of me.

Max POV

Dylan sat next to me. "Hey," he said.

I glared back in return. "What are you doing here? This seat's for Nudge!"

He grinned with his scarily perfect teeth. Then again, everything about him was, pretty much. His hair, his teeth, and his eyes. Ergh.

"I was going to ask you a question."

Crap. Well, the world would end a month too late.

I bared my teeth at him. "I don't wanna hear it."

He shook his head. "Max, I've been meaning to say this for a whole month, but you've never given me the chance. And I think starting a food fight was a bit extreme. I mean, just to get away from me in the cafeteria?"

A shy expression started to take over his face. WHAT? Dylan was never shy! He was the jock leader, the one the girls gossiped about, the one probably getting a scholarship to some college. This guy, shy? Hey, what do you know? I can rhyme.

"Max?"

I met his gaze. "Uh..."

"Will you go-"

Nudge stormed into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Nudge? You okay?" I asked with real concern. Nudge was the optimist in our gang, never angry, never hurtful, just a smile and soothing words was what made her happy.

"No, I am not!"

She was about to slam her books down onto her desk, but when she saw the occupier, she fumed.

Dylan and Nudge had a very rocky relationship, meaning that Nudge had yearned to be 'in', went out with Dylan, broke up after discovering he was with some other girl, and now, wouldn't even talk to each other.

Until now, that is.

"Dylan. What do you think you are doing, sitting at my desk?"

He turned slightly pale. "Uhh, talking to Max about-"

She just pushed him off before he even finished.

As soon as he stood up, she handed him his bag, and pushed him out the door.

I laughed. "Nice one Nudge."

She smiled sheepishly. "That helped with my anger issues."

"Speaking of which Nudge, what was you're problem?"

She sighed. "Stupid guy who asked me out. Didn't want to, so he came into my house and ruined my room... including that nice perfume Angel gave me."

I hugged her tight, although my hugs usually came with a price. One million dollars. Each.

"It's okay Nudge, you just have to try to let it go. You're lucky people ask you out anyway. It

means you're pretty, charming and likeable!"

Nudge smiled. She knew that I had yet to like boys the way she liked them.

"Well Max, you're brave and strong. It's the type where you have a guy loving you for it or making a guy run away screaming."

I snorted. "Gee, thanks."

We sat in silence for a minute, waiting for the signal for home room to start.

Our teacher came 5 minutes after the bell, like everyday.

"Class?"

We all settled down, like everyday.

"Good morning class!" she said, like everyday.

"Good morning Miss Conway!" we chirped, like everyday. I think you've got the hang of this now, so I'll take out the everyday things, until the unexpected thing happens.

She calls out attendance and give us a minute to talk about the holidays when she goes to the front desk. Apparently, they called her for something. Meanwhile, the getting-up-to-date sessions are going on.

"Love your hair!"

"Wow, she's lost a lot of weight!"

"She finally got those horrid things out of her mouth! But her teeth are still weird!."

The last comment was from Lissa, being the nice person she is. Known throughout the school as the stereotypical head cheerleader, setting her sights on Dylan. They were made for each other, but a) Dylan had his sights set on someone. Who? Moi and b) They were known for cheating on their dates. It wouldn't last long, but they would have fun. Maybe.

I had personally gotten pretty close to a guy named Sam. He was friendly, though there were a few awkward silences every now and then.

Oh well, enough with the matchmaking, let's get to the real disturbance to our 'everyday' lives.

Miss Conway came in and the class fell into silence.

"Everyone! We have a new student called Fang from Long Island move here! I hope you make him feel welcome!"

I looked up expecting a guy with an excited face, blonde hair, and bouncing off the walls with giddiness . Instead, I got a quiet, dark haired, calm guy who was standing at the doorway looking only vaguely interested. The stereotypical 'mystery' guy.

And boy, was he hot.


	2. Chapter 2

Fang POV

So, my teacher was Miss Conway, as I learnt when she got me from the office.

She seemed pretty cool, until she got to my new home room.

"This is it," she grinned and made her way into the class to introduce me.

I put my blank face on, kept my cool...

... and walked into the class.

About thirty eyes glanced at me, ten gave me some thought and only two had their attention fixed on me.

One was a red haired girl at the back, with too much makeup on. It made her look a bit...different. She had nice eyes and a friendly smile and looked at me like she had been waiting for me to arrive into her life. Wow, a girl with really bad eyesight/taste of boys. Though her hair was a nice colour...

The second sat around the middle, slouched until the teacher called my name.

She glanced my way, frowned, and sat straighter to see me.

I looked at her and my heart skipped a beat. She looked just like...

"Okay class, sit down at your seats please," Miss Conway called out.

Everyone sat down obediently and got their books out. Wow, a high school class with discipline. Nice work Miss Conway.

Although I disliked small schools and such, I felt more at peace with quiet classes, which were impossible to find in the city. I was quite quiet and shy, according to my mum, but you would never say that if you knew me well.

So, a bit of science for all of you.

If you are misunderstood, it's usually that those people close to you haven't tried venturing further into your heart, soul, whatever, right?

And say, you had been torn by a girl when you were twelve, do you think it makes it a whole lot easier?

I think not.

Which leads me to the girl staring at me. The blond one.

She just looked down quickly, after I caught her staring.

I was just standing by the teachers desk and shuffling my feet when I had the nerve to say, "Uh... Miss Conway?"

She glanced at me. "Yes?"

"I don't know where to sit."

Okay, that looks bad, I know, but the teacher had that look about her that said "I'm fine with who you are, even if you're some geeky guy that looks emo."

I am not emo.

The only problem was how that was going to look to the students.

The cool kid would just make their way over and sit in the first spare desk he liked, but remember, I was not your 'too cool for school' kid.

Miss Conway slammed her head into her desk. "The first day of school is not the best day for remembering," she smiled apologetically. "Right. A spare desk. There's one next to Lissa there."

She pointed to the spare desk next to the red head and Lissa gave an excited wave and gestured for me to come sit next to her.

"And we have one next to Nudge."

Nudge ( I wasn't the only one with a strange name), was African-American and looked bright and energetic. She sat next to the girl who looked exactly like my ex.

So I was stuck in the middle, with no idea who to sit next to.

Max POV

The hot guy, Fang, was choosing between sitting next to Nudge or the... Ergh, no.

I was all like, COME SIT HERE with my eyes and smiled, with my eyes. Yes, I was desperate for a guy I didn't even know. Wait, Max? Desperate?

I hated the guy now.

He saw these thoughts reflected on my face and paled slightly. "I'll take the seat at the back thanks."

I frowned. Maybe Nudge was right about me scaring off guys.

He grabbed his bag and walked to the back, being careful not to make eye contact with me.

What was his problem?

He sat down, and Lissa pulled her seat closer to him and smirked at Nudge and me.

Oh no she didn't.

It was on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fang POV**

I was seriously regretting sitting next to this 'Lissa' girl cause she tried sitting closer and closer to me and I realised: This girl had noooooo concept of 'new guy personal bubble'. Plus, she sucked at casual conversation like,"Hi, my name's Lissa, what's yours?"

Her communication was fluttering eyelashes and more dragging of the chair.

I enviously looked at the spare desk next to Nudge and sighed. The girl next to her kinda creeped me out though...

She looked like someone Who had broke my heart. How do describe something like that?

She had toyed around with me. I thought that we were gonna last a while. Sweet, caring and cute: the perfect girl. Apart from the hair. I did feel partially attracted to Lissa's hair. But not her.

I was relieved when the bell finally rang to signal the end of homeroom. I practically ran out the door and breathed out in relief.

"Um, hi."

I whirled around, half expecting Lissa.

Instead, it was the identical girl.

I forced myself to talk back. "Hi."

We awkwardly stood there for a moment until she suddenly said, "I'm Max, by the way."

"Fang."

They even had a similar name. I mean, Max, and Maya.

**Max POV**

Geez, I must be kinda mad.

Who stalks the guy they're trying to protect from Lissa?

Me.

So I had introduced myself, and then there was this awkward silence.

I was stuck on stuff to say. Me, Maximum Ride.

So I go, "What's your next class?"

Fang goes, "Oh, Biology in Rm 47 with Mrs... Martinez."

I smiled. "Yeah, that's my mom. I can take you there if you want."

He shook his head quickly. "Nah, I'm cool."

"Oh, okay."

Then I walked away.

Call me the biggest coward ever but I wasn't usually like this. Honest! I was fine around guys, I had two boys who were my best friend for sky's sakes. But that didn't explain why I went speechless around Fang. I didn't like him or anything, even though I did admit he was hot. I was trying to stop another Dylan from forming, I guess.

I went storming off when Fang wasn't in sight. I was so annoyed with myself that I bumped into someone.

"Oof!"

My books went flying and so did the guy's.

I went to pick them up and saw the name one one of them.

'James Griffiths.'

I looked up. "Iggy?"

He turned to my voice. "Max?"

"Hey Iggy!"

Iggy glanced up tiredly at me. "Don't tell me you need me to do you a favour."

"Depends which class you have next.'"

"Biology with your mom."

"I need you to do a favour for me."

Iggy groaned. If he could roll his eyes, he probably would have. Iggy is blind.

"What's my payment?"

I thought about this. "I'll do your Chemistry homework for this week."

"Nah, Chem's easy, how about... Maths?"

"... I can do maths..."

"Deal. What do you need me to do?"

I took a breath before replying, "Look after a new kid."

Iggy raised an eyebrow. "Right... Discreetly, openly, who and why?"

This is why I loved Iggy. Down to business. Now, how to answer...

"You're choice, he's called Fang, he's tall and black hair and Lissa's got an eye on him," I blurted out. Real smooth, aren't we Max.

Iggy grinned. "Well, we've got a boy to save, haven't we?"

**Fang POV**

I was wondering if Max and Maya knew each other when I finally reached Room 47. I don't see why people get so lost in new places. I have a great sense of direction, not inherited because my dad relies on me to get out of unknown places. Which is half the reason I declined Max's offer. And half the reason was... I did not need Maya showing me around.

That image of her being Maya was stuck in my head, and I didn't think I could talk to her again.

Or even see her again without coldly staring her down.

I opened the door into my bio class, stepped in...

And nearly smashed the door into some guy's face.

"Holy-"

He stumbled back outside and regained his balance smoothly.

Strawberry blond hair, pale and happy, this guy was the exact opposite of me.

He held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, the name is Iggy Griffiths."

I cautiously went outside of the class and shook it. "Uh, Fang Govian."

He had a deep thinking expression on and snapped his fingers. "Black hair, tall and in Miss Conway's home room?"

"Uh... Can't you see me?"

He smiled, though it was more of a grimace. "Yup."

I blinked. Wow, I had no idea what to do.

My parents raised me in a way I wasn't too proud of. They made me believe the world was one without change. Difference was not tolerated. Girls were pink, boys were blue. Superheroes were cool, baddies were just plain bad, no shades of grey there at all. Normal was good, different was bad.

They raised me up on stereotypes.

After calling a big tough looking guy a bully in 2nd grade, most of the kids in my class hated me. He was nice, despite his looks, so that enraged them even more.

That was when I learnt that the world wouldn't accept me like that.

So I tried to change, but with moments like these- facing a blind guy- sometimes it all came back.

"Are you okay around the school?"

Great, now I sounded like his mum.

He frowned a bit, then grinned. "Of course, but to be honest, it's you that I'm a bit worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, you choose the seat next to Lissa, and may I add in, ergh, and she snuggles up to you, you get out of the class, great idea, turn down Max's offer and smash the door in my face."

"Uh...?"

"Great, I'll get you started around here at lunch. Food is my priority, so don't be offended I'd I ignore you for the first five minutes of break."

I offered a thin smile, but this guy was pretty cool. But...

"We better get inside now, right?"

"Oh, right, class!" He smacked his forehead. "How could I forget?"

He opened the door with surprising accuracy. Wow, this guy was really skilled at this.

We walked into the class with seconds to spare before the bell.

Smooth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Max POV**

"Hey Fang!"

I turned. Iggy was waving his hands manically to the new kid, Fang.

Fang turned and steered his tray into Iggy's table.

What.

Iggy had got Fang to sit at our table. YES!

Wait, what? I hated the feeling he gave me, like I was a... girl.

Yes okay, I AM a girl, but in girl, I mean... Lissa.

Yay, you understand! Great!

So torn between him and my pride.

But Iggy made the decision for me anyway.

He dragged me across to our table without even bumping into anybody and sat me down. Fang had somehow managed to sit across from Iggy while I was thinking.

"Max, this is Fang. Fang, this is Max. Now, get to know each other before I get my lunch."

He was incredibly smooth, showing Fang that he knew me, but not giving away that he knew that we knew each other, leaving us to sort our problems, alone. If that makes sense.

Thanks Iggy. You're the most thoughtful of The Flock.

Oh right, The Flock is my clique of people. We have Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman aka Gazzy and Angel.

Right, back to Fang and I.

Sitting awkwardly.

So being the sensitive person I am, I blurted out, "Made some friends?"

He looked up from his food, and frowned. "Any importance to you?"

"No, but if you really needed a guide, Iggy was bound to be better than me, cause he's blind."

Crap. What did I just say?

"I mean, if you really didn't like me, you could have just, y'know, said it, or-"

I looked into his eyes for the first time ever, and I saw his eyes, filled with pain and sorrow.

Okay, I was joking, I'm not that deep.

But I did feel that he was sad. In an angry, or gloomy way though, I had no idea.

He looked at my eyes in the same way, and for a fraction of a second, he seemed happy, then the sadness consumed him.

Wow, I am pretty deep. Good on ya Max.

It was the weirdest feeling.

Until Iggy came smashing his tray down next to me and went, "FOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Okay, that was strange.

Looking into Maya's- I mean, Max's eyes.

They were the same, physically, but these eyes were... different.

They were more warmer, more kinder, more ni-

I mean, more bossier, more sarcastic, more sassy.

I hated this girl.

Iggy was munching through his food like there was no tomorrow. He seemed to be smelling something out, because he kept sniffing the air.

When he smelt something ( and I stress HE because I didn't smell anything), he turned to someone behind him. "Gazzy!"

The guy named 'Gazzy' had been creeping up on Iggy without me noticing and stamped his foot. "Damn! So close!"

"Smelt you though, it's hard to disguise that scent!"

I stared at Gazzy. He seemed a year younger than me, with blond hair and energy. Wow, a mini Iggy.

"Are you two... brothers?"

They snorted. "No, cause we're nearly the same age," said Gazzy. "We're the same year. Wait... you must be Fang!"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Oh, so you're the guy who sat next to Lissa! Ooh, bad choice man, bad choice."

I winced. That was all he needed.

Gazzy grinned. "Well, why didn't you sit next to Nudge?"

Deathly silence.

"What's this about me?" Nudge asks, sitting beside Gazzy. I move over for some space, cause Gazzy and Nudge are hogging the bench.

''Nothing," Max says quickly, looking at Nudge. "Just... something."

"Oh hey, I know you! You're Fang, right? So glad to meet you in person, my name's Nudge, you might have seen me in class today, you were offered a seat beside me, and why didn't you take it? You took the spot next to Lissa and that's gone all around the school so be careful, Lissa has her eye on you and I'm still curi-"

"Okay Nudge, time to cut out the talking," Gazzy said, putting his hand over her mouth.

Wow, she was a talker. Haha, another opposite of me. But I couldn't hang around these guys. We were too different, and if what my mom said was true when I was 8, differences set you apart too much.

Ah, my upbringing.

Right.

I'll stop.

So Max, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge and I were at a table, when a Asian girl came up to us and hid behind our table.

I was about to break my silence and ask what she was doing there, but the group gave a steely glance my way and started to talk louder.

Then Lissa burst through the doors.

She looked around the cafeteria carefully and made her way up to us.

"Hey Fang! How's it going? Having any problems? I can tutor you after school if you need it!"

I just went, "Nah, I'm cool."

She turned to Max. "Where is Kim?"

Max shrugged. "How would I know?"

Lissa grabbed her shirt. "Because the last time you told me that, she was right behind me, pulling faces."

Max snorted. "She's got some style."

"She's got some nerve," Lissa snarled back.

"Which is good for her low self esteem. And may I ask, who caused that?" Max shot back.

Lissa just left, stomping angrily and slamming the doors behind her.

"Haha, good one Max," Gazzy said.

However, Max was more focused on the girl behind her. "Are you okay Kim?"

The girl stood up shakily. "Yeah, I'm fine. Wow, how did you do that?"

Max grinned. "Take on the queen bee of the school? Wit, and some sarcasm."

Kim grinned back. "Thanks Max, you really are a protector."

She got up and left, leaving the cafeteria doors swinging behind her.

"So, what was up with that?" I asked.

Iggy threw his hands up. "It's a miracle! The boy speaks!"

I didn't reply.

Max put Iggy's hands down. "You're attracting attention Iggy."

She turned to me. "Kim is a friend of ours. She gets bullied by Lissa 24/7 and really needs our help. She's a great person, but her low self esteem doesn't help her."

"So, what's this about being a protector?" I asked, not daring to look her in the eye.

"Oh, nothing. Just a bit of a label," Max shrugged.

"No, you're amazing Max!" squealed Nudge. "She's a school legend because of her leadership skills and her defiance of Lissa. She takes in the victims of her bullying and help them get better images of themselves, like a kind of rehabilitation program!"

"It's not that big Nudge," Max muttered. "Shut up."

Nudge actually went quiet though, and went, "So, is The Flock expan-"

"Oh, look the bell gonna ring soon, need to go to business studies, bye!"

Max was gone in a second.

Nudge looked puzzled. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, but look at what she left!" Iggy held up a genuine looking eagle feather.

Everyone gasped.

"That's her feather!" Gazzy cried dramatically.

"Uh, what's it for?" I asked.

"We all have feathers of a bird that we resemble in nature," Nudge explained. "It's really special. Our feathers are like our link to each other."

That, was pretty cool.

"Well, what did she say she had now?" Iggy asked.

"Uh, Business Studies," replied Gazzy.

"Sweet, who has Business Studies now?"

Silence.

I checked my timetable. Business Studies.

I didn't plan on saying anything. Why would I want to see her? That was, until Nudge saw it.

"Fang does!" she chirped.

"Great, here you go," said Iggy.

He handed the feather over to me.

"Uh, what if we have different teachers?" I said.

Gazzy snorted. "There's only one Business Studies teacher in this small school."

I internally groaned. I wanted a memory loss. Just to forget that face. But those eyes...

"Okay, I can do it."

Everyone scrambled away to get ready for their next period.

Great. Feather delivery. Fun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Max POV**

Why did Nudge want to invite Fang to our Flock?

Okay, he did look the part we had missing. Sometimes we did get too overexcited and had whipped cream fights. He wouldn't take part in things like that I guessed.

But I wasn't going to accept him. No way.

Being the leader of The Flock, I had the major say on if Fang could join. No.

My reasoning?

Some maths for all of you (I'm so evil!):

Fang+Max= Awkward Max

Awkward Max+Flock= Teasing

Teasing+Max= Angry Max

Angry Max+ Flock= -Flock

To conclude, The Flock would be negative aka not there if Fang came along.

I sat down at my desk, when I found someone there.

Fang.

How the heck?

"Hey," I said.

He looked at the desk, then opened his hands.

"It's your feather. Everyone said you really needed it. They explained what it was."

I stared at it open mouthed. MY FEATHER. HOW COULD I HAVE LOST IT.

I searched for it in my bag. What...

"Um, sorry to break this to you, but I have it right here Fang," waving it right in his face.

We stared at the two feathers.

"How many Business Studies teachers are there here?" Fang asked suddenly.

I thought about it. "Ms Burnlay is usually our teacher, but there's another class who has Mrs Wayn."

He jumped up. "They did this!"

"Who?"

"Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy."

"Logically, yes, but why would they do something like that?"

We sat there, thinking of absolutely no reasons behind this.

**Iggy POV**

"Hahaha! WE FOOLED HIM SOOOOO BAD!" screamed Nudge.

I smirked. It had all been my idea, to get them to get together. The awkwardness behind their voices when they were near each other... just made my day. It also helped that he had told me his timetable when I asked for it before lunch.

Yes, I am pretty awesome.

"Well, what was the point of this?" Gazzy asked.

I grinned. "We are going to get them together in the end, no matter what. Even if Matchmaker Iggy can't see, he can see something!"

"Relaaaaaaaationships!" chorused Nudge and Gazzy.

"K gang, let's go to class. Try and think of something that leaves Max and Fang together."

"Sweet!" Nudge yelled.

Gazzy grinned. "Are bombs allowed?"

Iggy grinned evilly. "Yes Gazzy, many, many bombs will be allowed."

**Max POV**

Right, how the heck?

We were wondering why Iggy would do this, when the teacher came in.

She had grey hair, saggy and old. Tall as heck though. Yeah, that's Ms Burnlay. My business studies teacher. Who was strict in a couple of things. Like being ready for class before she came in.

!

I hurriedly sat down and got all my books out. I quickly grabbed a chair from the table next to me. We alawys had a spare desk, but just enough chairs for a class of 27 like mine. Wait...

"Fang!" I hissed. "Sit down!"

He looked around, looking for another seat. He didn't find one. He replied smoothly by sitting in the desk beside mine before the teacher looked around.

Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated that no chair would be there for him.

He crashed to the ground, knocking the table over.

Everyone looked at him, wondering what the heck had happened.

Ms Burnlay stood up from her table. "Nick, is it?"

He stood up. "Fang, Ms Burnlay."

She frowned. "Such a disgrace to the English language. Go get a chair from the other class."

"I think I will," Fang said as he walked across to the door leasing to the other class. "Thank you."

He closed the door carefully behind him.

"Right, attendance. Caitlin?"

As Fang came in with his not-so-invisible chair during the roll, he sat in the table next to me. He seemed nervous for some reason. Pale and deep breathing.

"Hey, you okay?"

I accidentally touched his arm, and he flinched, ever so slightly.

I retracted my hand quickly and we sat like that for the whole lesson.

**Fang POV**

What was she trying to do? Gain my approval ?

I think I made it clear I wanted silence. She kept on trying to talk to me! She told me where to sit, asked me if I'm okay.

Of course not, I'm sitting next to my effing ex!

But I may have just flinched when she brushed her hand on my arm, because she blinked and pulled her arm back.

Oops. Well, it's not my fault, is it? It's always the guilty trying to look innocent.

I stood up when the bell rang and left straight away.

After 30 seconds, Max ran up to me.

"Ms Burnlay is screaming your name and cursing you," Max offered.

"Don't care," I shrugged.

She smiled. "I wouldn't if I were you either."

I smiled inwardly at the thought of Ms Burnlay taking her anger out on all the obedient students.

"Is she always that angry?" I asked.

She seemed taken back by my sudden burst of noise. "Uh, yeah. Once, she threw someone's book outside because they had dotted their i's with hearts."

I nodded and kept moving.

She kept up. Wow, she must be pretty fit. I wasn't a big muscly guy, but more of a swift, quick person. I was a good sprinter. Maybe if I...

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then," Max suddenly said. We were at the front gate.

"Okay."

She turned to her left and walked to the bus stop.

I turned to my right and walked home, dreading the homework.

**Max POV**

I finally got to my house after 20 minutes on the bus. I slid my bag across top the corridor and sat on the kitchen bench. Now that I was no longer concerned about Fang's health, I was pissed with Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy. Why the heck would they try to get us together? Unless...

Suddenly, it seemed to piece together. Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy had told Fang that I needed the feather. He had seemed really scared of something after the feather. What was it?

Wait.

Iggy had started saying an annoying slogan last month. What was it?

Uh, something about being able to see something, or not. I couldn't remember.

I grabbed a can of Coke and went into my bedroom.

The Flock was there.

Oops, right. Meeting on the first day of the month. Here.

They went quiet when they saw me.

I sat down on my bed and pulled out the two feathers from my pocket.

"Anyone want to explain?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Gazzy POV**

So, Max was here. And I felt our first victory dying slowly inside of me. And that was just the effect of her stare.

She looked at us and put on blank face.

"Iggy."

Iggy put his head up.

"Do you have any idea how this," Max continued, brushing the feather on his nose, "somehow cloned itself and put itself into my bag, and Fang's hand at the same time?"

Iggy shrugged. "How would I know? I didn't even know feathers could clone themselves."

Max turned to me. "Gazzy? Any ideas?"

I tilted my head. "Well, I dunno. But why would someone do that?"

Then she turned to Nudge. Uh oh. Motormouth Nudge. Who couldn't lie to any of her friends.

"Nudge," Max said sweetly. "Do you have any idea why the feathers cloned themselves?"

Nudge tried, I could see that much, but how could she stop herself?

"WellIggyhadthisgreatideaandIcouldnthelpbutwondera boutitandIagreedbecauseyoulookcutewi-"

I slammed my hand over her mouth, having lots of practice in the 13 years I had known her for.

She giggled weakly. "Oops."

Max wasn't happy. She understood most of that since Nudge's rumblings were common."What's this about me being cute?"

Iggy tried to cover up for her. "Well, you were acting funny when I put you together with F-"

He stopped himself. Great, another slip up.

Max suddenly frowned angrily. "What?"

Iggy cowered behind me. "Save me Gazzy."

Max tried putting 2 and 2 together.

"I look cute when I am funny around, what? Hm..."

Max stomped around the room, trying to think. Iggy, Nudge and I pleaded inside our heads. 'No Max, don't be stubborn.'

She gave up after 5 minutes. Wow, we must have had her on a tired day.

"Whatever! The point is that you guys did something... pointless."

We all sniggered but Max didn't find it very funny.

The doorbell rang three times. She pointed to me.

"Gazzy. Open the door for your sister."

I put my hands up. "Okay, dictator Max."

Her eyes opened wide. "WHAT?"

I laughed and ran to the door, Max following close behind. "GAZZY! YOU LITTLE..."

I opened the door. Angel was waiting there patiently.

"Max! Gazzy!" she squealed.

Max instantly forgot about me and swung Angel around. "Angel! How are you?"

I sighed. Little sisters DID have a use then.

I creeped into Max's room while the little diversion kept her busy.

I turned the corner...

And smashed into Iggy.

"Whoah!"

I fell to the ground before swiftly standing up.

Iggy wasn't so lucky.

He fell down backwards and landed on his rear. He winced. "Ah, pain. That's the third time I've smashed into someone today. First Max, then Fang..."

I widened my eyes as I remembered. "Fang."

Iggy nodded. "Max suspects. So, we'll pretend we had nothing to do with that, and do something in a week or so, when everything's calmed down. Okay?"

I nodded. "I'll tell Nudge."

"Don't worry, I've already told her. She promised to keep her mouth shut, and Nudge never breaks a promise."

We both nodded, and went out to face Max.

**Fang POV**

I had a dream.

It was about Max. And Maya. They were kinda turning into each other.

Yeah, I know. Go figure.

But first it was Maya standing next to me, arms around my waist.

For one second, I was stupid enough just to enjoy her company, then I realised who it was.

I jumped back and landed hard on the ground. For the second time in 12 hours.

"What are you doing here?" I growled.

She pretended to look surprised and turned around to see if someone was behind her. "Who, me? I thought... Fang, it's Max, are you okay?"

I shook my head. What?

"Sorry Max, for a second, I thought you were..."

"Maya?"

The name took me by surprise. "You KNOW her?"

Max smirked. It didn't suit her. "Well honey, I AM Maya."

Okay, this was getting confusing now.

"Who am I talking to? Tell the truth."

Another Maya/Max appeared behind Max/Maya. Great, now there were two.

But they both grinned and said, "If you don't know which one's which in a dream, how will you know when you wake up?"

I woke up after that.

And decided to never talk to that Max girl again.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Max POV**

I woke up the next morning and smelt cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies, to be exact. One whiff, and I was in heaven.

I sprinted to the kitchen, any thought of being tired long gone, and found my mum in there.

We saw her before, remember? Dr. Martinez, the Biology teacher.

She smiled and hugged me. "Morning Max."

I hugged her back. "Morning mum. Is that," *sniffsniff* "Chocolate chip cookies?"

She smiled. "Get dressed and ready for school, and I MIGHT give you some to take to school."

I hugged her again. "That's fair. Thanks."

I rushed up the stairs again and I burst into Ella's room. "ELLA WAKE UP! WAKEY WAKEY! NEW DAY!"

She moaned. "No Max, please."

I grinned cheerfully. "No time for excuses Ella! It's a brand new day, and I couldn't feel better!"

She just groaned and shrivelled into her blanket. I threw the blankets off her. She groaned some more and curled up into a ball.

Time to use my secret weapon.

"Ella," I cooed. "MOM'S MAKING COOKIES AND IF YOU DON'T GET UP QUICK ENOUGH YOU'LL BE HAVING THE RAISIN ONES."

Needless to say, we were ready in 5 minutes.

As I ate my cookies on the way to school, Ella just HAD to remind me about someone.

"So, who's this new GUY at school you are allegedly dating Max?"

Silence for a second, until my brain clicked. "... Fang?"

She nodded. "Yup."

I mentally face palmed myself. Fang.

Fangfangfang.

I had completely forgotten about him, and I wish I hadn't remembered.

Do you ever remember an awkward moment with someone, and you think about all the sassy comments you could have made/ want to go back in time and punch yourself for being so stupid?

Yeah, well, it was a hundred times worse.

Because I would be seeing the guy I had made awkward/nervous/anxious/ uncomfortable.

Well, what was wrong with me?

Or what was terribly wrong with him?

**Iggy POV**

I got to school and heard Max getting out of her mum's car. She sounded like she was in pain, cause she kept groaning and smacking her head.

I was going to hide until she left, because Gazzy, Nudge and I had just left the day before after saying hi to Angel. We knew Angel would take forever to look after Total, technically her dog. Dr. Martinez had found Total in a run down science building. Total seemed to have been experimented on, so Dr. M had looked after Total. When Angel saw Total for the first time, it was an instant connection, and it was arranged so that she could take him home after his therapy. Happy ever after!

But because Max sounded like she had been shot, I didn't care if she killed me.

I ran to her. "Hey, Max, you okay?"

She mumbled back, "Yeah, I'm fine."

I smiled back at her. "Okay then, see you at... Math."

I tried to walk away from her as quick as I could, just in case she remembered anything from the day before.

"Hey, Iggy?"

I turned towards her voice. "Yeah?"

"Remember Fang Govian? The new kid from yesterday I tried to make you look after?"

I grimaced. "I prefer the term, 'taking under my wing'. 'Looking after' sounds too much like I'm a parent."

Max sighed and I could imagine her rolling her eyes. "Well, for starters, that was a bad pun you didn't excuse, secondly, I cannot imagine you as a responsible parent and lastly, answer the question."

Uh oh. My diversion hadn't worked. This whole conversation had turned into a minefield. Max marked every place not to step with a big red cross that couldn't be missed.

Unless, of course, you were blind.

I thought about the possibilities in the minefield. Maybe I could stay where I was. Or maybe I should just run through and hope for a miracle. Or maybe...

"Uh, Iggy? Earth to Iggy?" Max said, waving her hand in my face.

I shook my head out of my trance. "Wha..?"

Max snickered. "For a second, you looked like you were answering a question on a test, or a retarded seagull."

I gasped in mock horror. "You did NOT just call me a retarded seagull!"

Max laughed and ran away.

"MAX! YOU LITTLE..."

I chased her halfway around the school (I had memorised the entire school by sound and feel) until we were both doubling over from lack of breath because we were laughing so hard.

It was great, escaping Max's wrath and having fun at the same time.

Until the bell to homeroom jolted us to our senses.

**Fang POV**

I thought about it that morning, and decided not to communicate to Maya AT ALL.

I mean, Max.

That girl was trying to warp my thoughts and use them against me. I couldn't trust her, or any of her friends. How could they be trusted?

But I thought about Iggy, how he could always be relied on for a joke, and Nudge, the motormouth. And Gazzy, the cheerful one whose smiles seemed to be slightly contagious, even to me.

Okay, so maybe they weren't all bad. I could steer clear of Max's way and that would be fine. In theory.

I entered my home room and saw Nudge sitting at her desk. She looked sad and thoughtful, like she had just found out she had lost something valuable but was keeping calm about it. It wasn't an expression you saw in a teenager's face everyday.

But I did. In my reflection.

I decided to be bold and sit next to her. "Hey, uh, Nudge right?"

She nodded. "That's me," she smiled sadly.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing important. Just a bit of a fall out."

"Oh, okay."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, both thinking about those people we used to have. Or, at least, our own problems. I actually didn't know what or who Nudge was thinking about. Probably because I was kind of new to this school, so I had no idea who was with who and all the gossip that girls seemed to like.

The bell rang and students poured into the class.

She sighed. "Well, you better go to your seat. Lissa will be waiting." She gave a small wink and pushed me off Max's seat gently.

I smiled back at her and moved into my desk on the other side of the class.

Miss Conway walked into the classroom and salience fell in the room. She was holding a slip of pink paper.

"Fang, please come and get this."

I gulped. Why was the class casting sideways glances at me?

She handed me the paper. She looked stern as she handed it over. "I didn't expect YOU to wag school."

Huh?

I read the paper furiously as I made my way to my seat. I didn't understand all of it because it was all in teacher talk, but from what I could read, it said I had been away for the last period yesterday, when I had Business Studies with Mrs Burnlay. I didn't remember her calling attendance... but maybe a girl I had Business Studies with knew when that was supposed to be called.

Great, another reason I had to talk to the girl I had vowed not to talk to. Now how was I supposed to avoid her?

Lissa looked over my shoulder. "Oh, don't worry about those, they barely matter. It doesn't affect your grade and it's not on your report or anything, so your parents won't know. And," she dropped her voice, "what my parents don't know won't hurt them, will it Fang?"

I thought about Lissa. How she had acted to that Asian girl, Kim. How everyone had seemed to think Lissa wasn't the nicest or most innocent girl in the school. And how she was implying she had been doing more than a normal 14 year old should have done. And done it with everyone.

So, in the story, what does the hero do?

He teaches the girl a lesson.

I smirked at her and flipped my my hair over my eyes. "No, I hope they don't."

She smiled at me in a sickening way. "No, they never do."

The bell went and everyone got up and left quickly, apart from Lissa and me.

This was the tricky bit. If this was convincing enough, it would start the whole plan.

"Hey Lissa?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Are you free after school?"

She grinned as if she was an evil scientist who finally got me to cooperate with her. "I have cheerleading after school, but yeah, maybe tomorrow?"

I gave a small smile back. "Sure."

Okay, the plan may sound pretty bad, but I knew what I was doing.

55 minutes later...

I was still slightly annoyed at the fact that I would have to spend an afternoon with Lissa, bleuh. That girl was a major slu... yeah.

I was hoping to break up with her, make sure she learnt not to be such a little showoff and get rid of her current attitude.

The only problem was... what was I supposed to do on a date tomorrow? I had very little social skills, and managing to see Lissa tomorrow without sounding stalkerish or awkward was a miracle. I was more of a 'alone' person, not really enjoying people's company.

And now, my first date in what, 2 or 3 years? I was out of practice in being social.

I needed a person, someone who could teach me how to have all the comments, talk, and fashion sense needed for tomorrow. Okay, maybe this sounded a bit ambitious since I had no friends...but I remembered someone, just as the bell went for recess.

Someone who went by the name of Nudge.

**Nudge POV:**

Being the gossip girl of the school, I knew all the relationships, all the glances and looks everyone gave one another, what everyone was wearing. No, I don't think it was a bad kind of gossip. Lissa did plenty of that. Like I was the Good Witch of the North and Lissa was the Bad Witch of the West. I hadn't been surprised by any new information in my school.

Until I heard Fang and Lissa were going out.

When I was told, I nearly screamed. 'FANG YOU IDIOT WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING.' This was bound to be all over school by now. Any news about Lissa did travel fast.

So when the bell for recess rang, you couldn't blame me for wanting to find Fang and punch him in the face. And not noticing that a whole pile of books were in the way when I tried running out of English class early.

THUD.

My face connected with the books and I went flying. Yes, not the books. They were undamaged. It was me who crashed to the ground. Ouch.

I stood up quickly and looked around the class. Everyone was staring at me.

I grinned nervously. "Don't you just hate it when that happens?"

And I ran out of the class, hoping to find Fang.

I searched all around the school, in the Science and Math departments, in the English rooms and I was just about to go explore the Music and Art blocks when the bell rang. Great. At least I would see him in the cafeteria for lunch.

And he was going to get a BIG lecture from me, being the chatterbox...


	8. Chapter 8

**Iggy POV**

I waited for the Flock to show up at the Music room, where we always sat at recess and soon heard Gazzy coming up the stairs, breathing heavily, probably holding someone up. Fang? I also heard Max stomping up at the bottom of the stairs.

Uh oh. Trouble.

Gazzy dumped Fang onto the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well," he said to Fang, "You're not as heavy as you look."

Fang jolted back to his senses. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Max stepped in the conversation. "What's what supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Fang muttered. He left the group and went inside.

Gazzy and I looked at Max. She was confused. "What did I do?"

We shook our heads (as if we knew!) and went inside. My plan for a Max and Fang ending was proving harder than it sounded. Hey, we could make that into one of those one word couples! Max, Fang, Mang, Fax. I bet they would hate that.

When we stepped in, I was surprised to hear Fang talking (!) to Mr Johnson, our favourite music teacher.

We stopped as Mr Johnson laughed. "Well, great to know you're taking Music this year Fang. Good to have you back."

I could imagine Fang smiled slightly. "You too, Mr Johnson."

Max, obviously puzzled, asked, "Wait. You two know each other?"

Mr Johnson replied sarcastically, "Oh no, we're just complete strangers who pretend that they know each other, just for the sake of it. Of course we know each other!"

One reason why Mr Johnson is my favourite teacher. His first language is sarcasm. Other reasons why the Flock and I think he's cooler than the other teachers:

1. He lets us use his classroom at recess.

2. He lets us use it after school for band practice.

3. He actually doesn't mind us being loud, unlike other teachers, because he's younger and understands our need to make some noise.

4. He treats me like a normal person. Most teachers just full out fuss and think I can't sit down by myself. Or they just ignore me, but Mr Johnson actually knows what I can do by myself and knows I can't do some stuff by myself, because I am stubborn most of the time, and I think I can do things by myself, like that time when I broke my arm running down an escalator thinking it was a ramp.

"How do you two know each other?" asked Gazzy.

"I taught at Fang's elementary school as a temporary teacher for a year. How long ago was that Fang?" he asked Fang.

"When I was in 3rd grade, I think," Fang replied quietly.

Mr Johnson laughed. "Well, it HAS been a while then. You still playing your guitar?"

"Yes Mr Johnson."

"Good, good." He turned to Max. "In fact, I think you're short of a guitar player right now, aren't you?"

I could imagine Max blushing while saying, "Uh um, uh right...yeah?"

"Fang can play some amazing solos if you needed them, or just trial him. I'm sure you'd be a great fit with the Flock."

"Speaking of Flock, where's Nudge?" Gazzy asked.

"What?"

"Nudge isn't here, Iggy," Max said to me.

"Wha...when?"

"Uh, now?"

"How?"

"I DON'T FRIGGING KNOW, OKAY IGGY?"

I snickered, knowing that Max would be looking furious, but I would soon be forgiven.

"Oh look, there's Nudge!" shouted a happy Gazzy.

"Oh yup, that clears everything up Gazzy, thank you," I commented in a sarcastic manner. "What's she doing?"

Gazzy took ten seconds before answering. "She seems to be looking for someone, and she's looking kinda angry. She's heading this way..."

And the bell rang. The bell seemed to be interrupting everything today. How rude.

"Nudge just sighed and ran off to her class, and the coast is clear."

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Okay, you guys better get to class too," said Mr Johnson.

"Okay guys, I gotta skedaddle, have Spanish and you know what the teacher's like when you're late," yelled Gazzy over his shoulder.

"I have French now, so I have to run," said Max, leaving me and Fang. I mean, Fang and I. What the heck, does it matter? I've never understood that whole, this person and I thing.

Fang was quiet for a second until he said, "Uh, I have... art, actually. So I need to run too."

I nodded knowingly. "Oh, okay." I turned around and nearly tripped down the stairs.

Fang was there in a second, rushing to my aid.

I 'glanced' to where I imagined his face to be. "Well, this is quite a Twilight scene. This is where I suspect you're a vampire, right?"

Fang dropped me, because I was a few inches of the ground, which I found out when he dumped me there. Hi floor.

"Twilight annoys me," Fang said. "Stupid Bella who doesn't do anything."

I grinned. "So, you have read Twilight."

Fang paused for a second. "No, but I know the basic plot line. Bella likes a vampire, she tries to be one, every other vampire wants to kill her, she becomes a vampire and has a kid."

I laughed. "What else do you think she should have done?"

Fang paused again. "She's so...helpless. Girls who can stand up for themselves, who can fight for themselves are the ones that can do something with their life."

Cue astounded Iggy. "Wow. You CAN talk a lot."

"Watch the words Iggy. I can drop you again," warned Fang.

I laughed. "Well, I'm already late to Maths, bleuh. See ya later!"

I ran down the stairs and to the torture awaiting me. MATHS.

**Fang POV**

When I got into the art room, I saw that there was no teacher, a loud class and Nudge.

Who was coming towards me with a mad look on her face.

I tried to get away, but she caught the back of my shirt and dragged me back to her seat. Something was going to happen to me. Something that wasn't going to be a quick lecture.

She made me sit down and and sat down at the opposite end, like she was a counsellor.

"Now, Fang," she said as sweetly as she could while sounding dangerously close to killing me. "Explain why the school is saying that you may be dating a girl who ALREADY HAS A BOYFRIEND."

I blinked. "What?"

"ARE YOU OR ARE YOU NOT DATING LISSA TATES?" Nudge yelled.

Everyone was now quiet and staring at me like I was a piece of gum under their desk, a superhero, or too scared to come close to me.

I bit my lip. "Uh, not officially, no."

Nudge gasped and fell to the floor. Melodramatic much.

Still, I checked she was okay. "Nudge? You okay?"

She bolted upright. "OF COURSE NOT YOU IDIOT! A NEW FRIEND OF MINE IS DATING LISSA TATES! WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TO? WILL MAX START LISTENING TO MY FASHION TIPS? WILL IGGY LOSE HIS WAY AROUND THE SCHOOL? WILL GAZZY TURN EMO?"

"No emo jokes, please," I muttered. I had enough of those last year.

Nudge turned her attention on me, and I actually felt scared. It was like one of those electric flyswatters. You see the thing sparking in a crazy person's hands, and you think, 'RUN.'

I wasn't saying that Nudge is crazy. Just at the time.

"Uh, Nudge, I don't see what the problem is. It's just Lissa, right?"

Nudge eyes went wide. "Here, sit down. Let me tell you about about Lissa Tates."

I sat down in the seat, and she started to tell me the story of Lissa Tates.

"Lissa Tates has always been the honey of every school she went to. The one the boys always drooled about. She was never nice. She would always mouth off to the teachers, she still does, but they can't do anything cause her grandmother's a very highly respected and feared teacher. The teacher...you can't mess with her, even if you were a teacher yourself. Lissa always gets her way, no matter what."

I was silent. "Who's the teacher?"

Nudge shrugged. "You might know her. Her name's Mrs Burnlay


End file.
